P is for Pattern Play, Day 16 of the A to Z of Zentangle Challenge#atozchallenge

In Zentangle, there is no wrong way to draw a pattern. Students are encouraged right from their first lesson to not worry about what the pattern will look like when it is done, but to just focus on the line they are making. With this emphasis on the process rather than the process comes encouragement to play. If a student draws something different than the rest, it is not labeled a mistake. Instead, it is called a “tangleation” that is praised and encouraged.

Instead of just letting tangleations happen by accident, try playing with patterns on purpose. Remember Knightsbridge from Day 13? It is similar to a simple checkerboard. But it doesn’t have to be!

There are 3 different tangleations of Knightsbridge, and none of them looks like a checkerboard.

Instead of just drawing what everyone else does, get creative, and start playing! There is no need to “collect” every pattern in existence. Instead, take some time to play with the ones you already know. Need some encouragement or ideas? Try my book Pattern Play.

This post made me smile! Yes. Yes indeed. Your color-filled tangling is “happy” indeed and I do love your book. It’s one of the few (along with Made in the Shade) that I buy in bulk and offer to my students at every class.